The present invention relates to voice and data communications, and in particular, to providing an alert during such communications.
Since the breakup of ATandT into regional telephone systems and the onslaught of alternative long distance carriers, competition between these carriers has lead to a multitude of pricing structures. A common scenario is to charge a fixed price for a first time period and a second, higher price after the end of the first time period. For example, a plan may charge one dollar for all calls up to 20 minutes and ten cents per minute for each minute the call extends past 20 minutes. For the customer to maximize value, he or she would like to talk for as close to 20 minutes as possible and avoid running over the initial 20-minute period where the calls effectively change from five cents per minute to ten cents per minute. Such time monitoring issues arise for voice and data communications over land-based and wireless communication networks.
Most phones do not have timers, and those that do typically do not provide easy access during operation and do not link to the call in progress. Further, there is no user-friendly way to systematically alert the caller that a certain amount of time has passed in order to optimize billing. Pre-paid calling cards provide an alert that time is expiring, but these alerts are not available for normal, unrestricted communications.
Therefore, there is a need for an alert to notify a user that a certain amount of time has elapsed for a given call. There is a further need for an alert that is configurable to assist the user in optimizing cost for any calling or communication plan.
The present invention provides a solution to the above by providing an alert to a user after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed for a particular communication. The timing for the alert may be set by the user at the beginning of each call, or may be automatically configured during the initiation of a call or communication. Control of the alert and the respective timing preferably occurs at a local call control center, such as a central office in the public telephone system, or a mobile switching center in a wireless system. For voice communications, the alert is preferably audible. Alternatively, for data communications, the alert is configured to effect an audible, visual, or otherwise perceptible alert on the user""s interface.
In a preferred configuration for voice communications, the user goes off-hook and dials a feature access code (FAC) associated with an audible alert timer. The feature access code may select a predefined time or may be configured to prompt the customer to enter a desired time. Once the time for an alert is set, the user is provided a dial tone to initiate a call. The call is set up and the timer begins counting. After the predetermined amount of time expires, the user hears either a special tone or announcement indicating that the amount of time has expired. The user can then choose to remain connected or hang up. The system may be modified to provide a preliminary warning that the time will expire within a selected amount of time.
Enhancements to the basic functionality of the present invention include providing a default alert time for a specific user, remembering the timer setting for a previous call, or tying the timer setting to a specific carrier or carrier plan. In the latter, dialing a carrier access code (CAC), such as 10-10-555, may provide a first timer setting, wherein another carrier access code may provide a different timer setting depending on the calling plan and billing structure. Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the following description of the specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.